Device for aligning cigarettes discharged from cigarette-making machines



E. KOERNER DEVICE FOR ALIGNING CIGARETTES DISCHARGED FROM CIGARETTE MAKING MACHINES Feb. 26 1924. 1,4352% agiled March 10 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet l I 12 v [16: 4 A6 44 Feb. 26 1924. 1,485,236

E. KOERNER DEVICE FOR ALIGNING CIGARETTES DISCHARGED FROM CIGARETTE MAKING MACHINES Filed March 10 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 26 1924.- 1,%85,23@

E. KOERNER DEVICE FOR ALIGNING CIGARETTES DISCHARGED FROM CIGARETTE MAKING MACHINES Filed March 10 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Feb. 26, 1924.

NTED STATES PAT FFICE.

EWALD KOERNER, OF DRESDEN, GERMANY.

Application filed March 10, 1922. Serial No. 542,643.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EWALD KonRNnR, a citizen of the Republic of Germany, residing at Dresden, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices for Aligning Cigarettes Discharged from Cigarette-Making Machines, of which the following is a specification.

In cigarette-making machines of the continuous-rod type, the finished cigarettes are received, for piling, by a travelling apron or the like on which it is desirable that the cigarettes should be properly aligned. IVhen, as is usually the case, the cigarettes are dropped direct by the discharge channel while in longitudinal motion, a variation in the speed of the machine will alter the position into which the cigarettes drop, and a bad aligning, which complicates the work of the operator, will result. Also in cases when the cigarettes are picked up by grippers, which move faster than the rod, and stripped off the grippers by rigid abutments, the cigarettes are likely to get damaged and to bounce, particularly when the machine runs fast, so as to line up on the apron irregularly.

The object of the present invention is to ensure a proper alignment of the cigarettes on the delivery apron without injuring them, and the invention consists in the employment of a transporter to which the cigarettes are secured and which is stopped before the cigarettes are discharged from the same, so that they will drop in exactly the same position whether the machine runs fast or slow. Preferably the transporter is reciprocated and fitted with spring-clips which hold the cigarettes in position until, when the transporter commence the return stroke, the cigarettes are retained and discharged by strippers interposed in their paths.

This form of construction is illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 representing an elevation of the device,

Fig. 2, a plan of the same,

Fig 3, an elevation at right angles to Fig. 1,

Figs. 4 and 5, side views of the transporter and its carriage as seen from opposite directions to Fig. 3, and

Fig. 6, a view of the stripping device.

Fig. 7 shows by four diagrams, I, II, III

and IV, each representing side, top and end view, of the transporter, the different stages of the operation.

A machine frame 3 carries tworods 2 and 2 on which a carriage 1 is slidably guided. Arranged at right angles to said rods is a shaft 4 which carries at one end a crank 5 with which to reciprocate the carriage 1, a connecting rod having for that purpose one end 7 fitted on the crank pin 6 and the other end 7*, on the stud 8 on the carriage. There is also on the crank pin 6 a sprocket wheel 9 which communicates, by means of a chain 12*, rotation to a sprocket wheel 10 mounted on the stud 8.

Connected to the carriage is a cigarette transporter consisting of a tray 23 (Figs. at and 5) which receives the cigarettes from the discharge channel 25 of the cigarette-making machine. The continuous-cigarette rod is out once across and once midway between a mouth-piece strip, in the usual manner, and two cigarettes are received by the transporter at a time, as shown in the diagram (Fig. 7, I). The first cigarette A passes in between two spring clips 2 1 and 24* at the front of the transporter and is held by these in position. As the carriage begins its forward stroke, this cigarette becomes detached, as shown'in Fig. 7, II, from the second cigarette B which, however, remains on the tray between two springs 24 and 24 arranged at the opposite sides of the tray at some distance apart. The space between the latter springs is swept by a vane 21 (Figs. 4 and 5) which is connected to a shaft 20 mounted in a bracket on the carriage 1. An arm 19 on the shaft 20 is pivoted at 17 to a rod 16 the opposite end of which is pivoted at 18 to a lever 14. The latter is fulcrumed at 15 and carries on a stud 13 a roller 12 which bears, under the influence of a spring, against a cam 11 connected to the sprocket wheel 10. The lever 14 is rocked by the cam so as to cause the vane 21 to swing to and fro over the tray 23. The wheel 10 revolves only once for every two revolutions of the wheel 9 so that the vane 21 will be moved to one side of the tray during one stroke of the carriage and to the other side during the next stroke. The reversal of the vane 21 takes place after the forward stroke of the transporter has commenced, and the second cigarette B will be caught by the same and held against one of the springs 24, 24, as shown in Fig. 7 III. The vane is caused to move slowly so as not to injure the cigarettes.

For stripping the cigarettes off the tray, the following arrangement is provided In a bearing bracket 30 connected to the machine frame 3, a shaft 29 is arranged above the driving shaft 4: (Fig. A double-armed lever carries on one arm, on a stud 32, a roller 33 which, under the influence of a spring acting on the other arm, bears against a cam 34 connected to the shaft 4. The cam thus rocks the shaft 29 which, in rocking, swings a bar 27 connected toa collar 28 on the shaft. Stripping plates 26*, 26 and 26 are so connected to the bar 27 as to enter the path of the cigarettes when the bar is swung downwards and prevent them from returning with the t 'ansporter. This is shown in Fig. 7, III, where the cigarette A is intercepted by the stripping plate 26 and the cigarette B, by the plate 26* As the transporter returns, therefore, the plates, which remain stationary, strip the cigarettes from the spring clips, as shown in Fig. 7, IV. A delivery apron 35, travelling in a direction at right angles to the cigarette rod, is arranged so as to receive the cigarettes as they drop from the transporter, and, as the stripping plates determine the position in which the cigarettes drop, the latter will be properly aligned on the apron, and the work of collecting and piling them will be considerably facilitated. During the forward stroke of the transporter, the stripping plates are moved out of the way.

As the transporter returns, it receives another pair of cigarettes C and D for delivery, and a third pair E, F follows up to replace the former.

Instead of the reciprocating transporter described, an endless apron, chain or the like may be used which moves intermittently and which stops when the cigarettes arrive in position for delivery. The cigarettes are clamped to the apron and ejected from the clamps, when the apron stops, by transversely movable strippers.

I claim 1. In a device for aligning cigarettes discharged from a cigarette-making machine of the continuous-rod type, a transporter arranged so as to receive the cigarettes from the machine, means for clamping the cigarettes to the transporter, means for reciprocating the transporter, means for stripping the cigarettes from the transporter when the latter returns from its extreme end position, and a delivery apron arranged so as to travel in a direction at right angles to the axes of the cigarettes and so as to receive the cigarettes when they are stripped off the transporter, substantially as set forth.

2. In a device for aligning the cigarettes discharged from a cigarette-making machine of the continuous-rod type, a transporter arranged so as to receive the cigarettes from the machine, means for clamping the cigarettes to the transporter, means for reciprocating the transporter, a series of stripping plates, means for operating said stripping plates so that they enter the path of the cigarettes when the transporter arrives in the extreme end position and so that they strip the cigarettes from the transporter when the latter returns, and a delivery apron arranged so as to travel in a direction at right angles to the cigarette axis and so as to receive the cigarettes stripped off the returning transporter, substantially as set forth.

3. In a device for aligning cigarettes discharged from a cigarette-making machine of the continuous-rod type, a transporter arranged so as to receive the cigarettes from the machine two at a time in a longitudinal file, means for reciprocating the transporter, spring clips arranged on the transporter so as to receive the front cigarette between them, a vane arranged on the transporter so as to follow its movements, means for causing the vane to sweep across the transporter so as to displace the second cigarette transversely, a spring arranged so as to form an abutment for the cigarette displaced by the vane, the cigarette being clamped between the two elements, means for intercepting the return movement of the cigarettes so as to strip them ofl the transporter when the latter returns, and a traveling apron arranged so as to move in a direction at right angles to the cigarette rod and so as to receive the cigarettes stripped off the transporter, substantially as set forth.

EWVALD KOERNER. 

